Covid care on ‘virtual ward’
£20 GADGET ALLOWS FOR PATIENTS TO BE MONITORED IN THEIR HOME
THIS cheap and simple gadget has allowed more than 130 Covid-19 patients to be treated at home rather than in a hospital bed.
The oximeter, which costs about £20, clips to a person’s finger and gives an instant oxygen saturation reading - one of the key indicators of a Covid-positive patient’s condition.
So far, more than 130 people have been cared for by this method, known as a “virtual ward” and more than 90 have been discharged.
A second virtual ward started caring for patients this week.
“All people need is the oximeter, which we provide, and a phone,” said Dr Daniela Cristea-Nicoara, who is behind the roll-out of the measure across Leicester’s hospitals.
“We call them once a day and take the three readings patients are asked to record in a diary we give to them.”
Patients are carefully selected from those who attend Glenfield Hospital’s clinical decisions unit.
After an initial assessment, patients who want to be looked after while staying at home have everything explained to them by the specialist team of respiratory nurses who run the ward.
They are given an oximeter and a diary and return home with the option to come back to hospital if they feel worse.
The nurses then monitor the progress of patients remotely. Patients have regular calls with the nursing team to talk about their health and well-being.
The nurses follow the patients, and often their families, across a 14-day period, charting progress and any deterioration of symptoms.
Dr Cristea-Nicoara, a respiratory consultant, said: “It isn’t suitable for everyone we see who is Covid-positive, but for some patients it means we get to monitor them closely, without them having to come into hospital. Patients have given really good feedback. They are happy to be treated at home and feel reassured and safe.
“Coming into hospital at the moment is something patients want to avoid, if possible. We have hundreds of Covid-positive patients already in the hospital and wards and staff are under pressure.
“It also means people are able to monitor their own progress. Breathlessness doesn’t always mean that oxygen is low, and the oximeters offer reassurance to those patients especially.
“During the first wave, we feared the all too common reality of Covid a sudden deterioration in health, and so many patients were admitted to hospital. With this wave, that doesn’t have to be the case, we know more about it and are better prepared to deal with the symptoms.
“When we consider that we’ve kept our patients safe and more comfortable, that we’ve been able to support their family, help them manage their symptoms and, importantly, they are satisfied with their care, that to me confirms we are redefining what high-quality healthcare looks like.”
Patient feedback indicates that this type of care works as well for patients as it does for hospitals, with 90 per cent satisfaction ratings from patients admitted to the virtual Covid ward, she said.
Dr Cristea-Nicoara added: “We have a fantastic team and it’s great to see NHS feedback that reads like a 4-star hotel review, with people saying not only that they felt cared for and reassured but that they would recommend us to family and friends and that they’d come back again!”